How much have you changed in seven years? Will it be full circle for Lionel Messi at the defiant Estadio do Maracana? Will the ghosts of the past return to haunt him as he sits down on the feasting table, licking his lips hoping it's not a mirage in front of him but an oasis?
Questions and more questions. 2014 Messi, meet 2021 Messi.
The Messi in different shades of blue, breezing through the preliminary stages with his exquisite touches, and then walking up to the centre circle in Rio with expectant eyes, with hope in his heart and a nation's dream at his feet.
At the end of it all, he had snuffed the opportunity with only Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to beat. And then there was the sight of him, with time ticking the loudest, burying his free kick into the Maracana stands. The clock struck deep into his heart with a fairytale that needed rewriting, Argentina stripped of its magical veneer, our 'Cinderella' losing the sheen but not running away, just rooted to the spot. Dazed, hands on hips, with a brush of the mane, doing the customary rituals but hoping he were a million miles away. The silver slippers were not enough for the 27-year-old, it was the golden World Cup he had craved for.
It's the Copa America now, the pinnacle of the Latin world. A football tournament may lose its value in a less privileged continent at the time of a swelling pandemic, but try and tell that to Messi or Neymar. Football is life, and football can be death but what is so comforting is football can be rebirth too.
As the 34-year-old Messi steps out on the blades of Maracana again in a final, he has a score to settle. Or maybe not. A significant part of greatness is to be able to obliterate the past but keep the lessons tucked away in the corners of the mind, ready to be summoned. Messi has grown up, Messi speaks out, Messi motivates, Messi knows.
We have seen an angry Messi too this season, shaking the Barcelona power citadel. The rage is all for his good, we guess. Slowly, his personal images and thoughts emerge and there is no fear of opening up to the world.
Two years ago, Argentina lost to Brazil in the Copa America semis at the Estadio Mineirao, and the rousing speech he had given to the youngsters left 'everyone in tears'. A sharp contrast to the man who, in 2016, hastily announced his retirement after missing his penalty against Chile. A teammate in disappointments, Angel Di Maria suggested he liked the 'new Messi', the lion nurturing and protecting the cubs.
In the past, he had been vilified for not singing the Argentina anthem, of being the silent, lone and lonely ranger, inscrutable. A stats box will tell you how, in the Albiceleste shirt, he had failed to lift his team in grand finales, his Achilles heel.
It was his ankle that was bleeding this time, as he stepped up to convert his penalty in the semifinal shootout against Colombia. Hero of the hour Emiliano Martinez rightfully snatched the limelight as Messi reached out and embraced him, leaping into his saviour arms. But the captain has been the conductor throughout the tournament, breaking records, scoring from free-kicks, assisting the young ones whose souls he had stirred before. "Sooner or later, luck will be on our side," Angel had said, invoking Mercy.
The balance may tilt ever-so slightly towards Brazil at Maracana. But Argentina have Messi, the new Messi, the free Messi. Christ the Redeemer will be watching.
